Max Homa played the most beautifully boring round of golf amid raging wind and endless calamity Friday in the Masters, giving him a share of the lead with Scottie Scheffler and Bryson DeChambeau going into a weekend for the survivors in Augusta, Ga.
Homa made 15 pars 鈥� they all felt so much better than that 鈥� for a 1-under 71.
Scheffler finally made his first bogey of the Masters and then a few more, but he was rock solid down the stretch for a 72, his highest score of the year. DeChambeau played the 13th hole from the 14th fairway 鈥� at one point over his shoulder as he plotted his move 鈥� and finished with a 73.
For some 12 hours, the wind roared through the pines, scattered magnolia leaves across pristine Augusta National, and blew sand out of the white bunkers and into the faces of the players as they tried to handle a beast of a course.
鈥淢ostly what I was trying to do out there was make a bunch of pars and stay in the golf tournament,鈥� Scheffler said, a testament to just how difficult it was.
The 60 players who made the cut at 6-over 150 are expected to get a slight reprieve, though still plenty of wind. And that weekend will include Tiger Woods.
by making the cut for the 24th consecutive time. He had to play 23 holes 鈥� five in the morning to finish the weather-delayed first round, and then a second round in which he kept the ball in play and posted an even-par 72.
The most consecutive made cuts all-time at will make his 24th straight cut at Augusta National.
鈥� PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR)
He was only seven shots behind and still very much in the tournament.
鈥淚鈥檓 here. I have a chance to win the golf tournament,鈥� Woods said. 鈥淚 got my two rounds in.鈥�
That鈥檚 really what it was all about 鈥� finishing, surviving.
鈥淭hat was about as happy as you could be to be off of a golf course,鈥� Homa said. 鈥淭hat was so hard. We got the sand shower to end our day. So it was kind of the golf course saying, 鈥楪et the hell out of here.鈥欌��
The average score was 75.09. Only eight players broke par, the same number of players who shot 80 or higher. Ludvig Aberg had the low round at 69.
鈥淚鈥檝e never experienced anything like this before,鈥� DeChambeau said. 鈥淏ut what a great test.鈥�
Homa heard some of the loudest cheers, even if they weren鈥檛 for him. He spent two days with Woods, and caught the full experience of largest galleries, all of them rising to their feet when Woods approached tee boxes, or the 15th green that he managed to reach in two.
鈥淭he memories will just be a lot of the Tiger stuff,鈥� Homa said. 鈥淚 hope to build my own come this weekend, but I fortunately think I鈥檝e done a good enough job of playing it one shot at a time that I can鈥檛 really remember a ton of the round at the moment. I played really well, and I tried to play as boring as possible.
鈥淚 think just the view of this beautiful golf course with the sea of fans, it will be seared in my brain for a while.鈥�
The leaders were at 6-under 138, two shots clear of Masters newcomer Nicolai Hojgaard of Denmark, who shot a 73. Two-time major champion Collin Morikawa, one of only two fortunate souls to break par each of the first two rounds, had a 70 and was three behind.
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Justin Thomas will have far worse memories. He was even par for the tournament on the par-5 15th hole, very much in the tournament. He hit iron to lay up and it raced along the turf and into the pond. That was the start of a double bogey-double bogey-bogey-double bogey finish. He shot 79 and missed the cut by one shot.
Defending champion Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy looked as though they might join him, but that was before the cut line began to move.
Rahm made a late charge for a 76, leaving him 11 shots out of the lead. McIlroy, missing only the Masters for the career Grand Slam, didn鈥檛 make a birdie for only the third time in his 56 trips around Augusta National. He shot 77 and was 10 shots back.
Among Canadians in the field, Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., was tied for 24 at 2-over. Adam Hadwin of Abbotsford was the only other Canuck to make the cut and sits at 4-over. Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., shot a 77 and missed the cut by one shot at 7-over. Nick Taylor, also of Abbotsford, shot 81 and finished at 14-over.
Doug Ferguson, The Associated Press
